Nygma
by Batsysgirlforlife
Summary: Edward Nygma's past! Just a day in the life. Y'know. Gets pretty intense. Like, language wise. One shot. No more coming to this one. Rated T for language and certain things. I don't want to spoil it ; )


**AUTHORS NOTES:**

**Hey guys! I'm back briefly! Kind of. Only kind of. I'm really just dropping by to give you guys this.**

**Disclaimer blah blah**

**So just a quick, general warning, there's strong language in this. Like seriously I drop the F-bomb a couple of times, so yeah.**

**Also some things in here might make people uncomfortable. I really don't want to give anything away but if you get offended, I'm sorry but don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Also! I don't know Edward Nashton's (Nygma's) parents names. So I went with Victor and Nora, like Mr. Freeze and his wife because I'm not creative.**

**On to the story!**

"C'mon Eddie. You have to get to bed,"  
"I don't want to go to bed,"  
"Why not?"  
"I'll miss you,"  
"I'll always be here."  
"Always?"  
"Forever."  
"You promise?"  
"Of course."  
"I love you, mommy."  
"I love you too, Eddie. Now go to sleep,"  
"Mommy?"  
"Yes, Eddie?"  
"I don't want to go to sleep."  
"Without a riddle, you mean."  
"Mhm."  
"What question can you never answer 'yes' to?"  
The boy was quiet.  
"Goodnight, Eddie."  
"Goodnight, Mommy."  
The boy's mother kissed him on the forehead and exited the room, turning off the light as she went.  
Edward lay in bed, tucked in tightly, staring the ceiling. The room was illuminated only by the lime green night light that shone valiantly through the darkness. The boy lay thinking, pondering his mother's riddle until he eventually drifted off into slumber.

Running down the hall with a big smile on his little face, the boy burst into the kitchen, "I've got it! The-"  
Edward broke off immediately, the smile dropping from his face.  
"G-good morning, Daddy." The boy stammered, straightening his glasses and dropping his gaze.  
"Morning, Eddie." The hulking man said in a mockingly sweet way. Edward recognized the tone.  
His father had come home drunk, again.  
"Look at me, Eddie." The man commanded, removing his monstrous hand from his wife's unusually pale face and stepping toward his son.  
The boy froze almost immediately after meeting the man's gaze. Edward wanted to run. He always wanted to run from Daddy. But he knew that running only made Daddy angrier. He knew that no matter how far or how fast he ran, Daddy always found him.  
And Daddy always hurt him.  
But Eddie knew that Daddy hurt him less when he obeyed.  
So Eddie obeyed.  
The man squinted at the scrawny young boy, "Nora, you been feedin' him?" The man gripped his son's chin harshly and turned the boy's head to either side, examining him.  
Edward could smell the sickeningly sweet and somehow bitter scent of alcohol coming from his father's grotesque, slobbish openmouthed breathing.  
"Yes, Victor." The woman said quietly, in an attempt to hide the shaking in her voice from her son, "I've been feeding Edward."  
The man scowled and roughly released Eddie's face. "Doesn't look like it," Victor growled, walking back toward his wife. "He been playin' outside?" The man asked, slowly putting his arms on either side of Nora's chair, blocking any way of escape.  
Eddie tensed.  
He hated when Daddy hit Mommy. He would much rather take the beating, take the blame for her. It hurt a lot when Daddy hit him, and he knew it had to hurt Mommy just as bad. He didn't want Daddy to hurt her.  
But he knew that if he tried to step in, tried to stop Daddy, he'd just hurt Mommy worse and then laugh about it later.  
So Eddie stood there.  
Nora looked the man in the eyes, "No. He hasn't."  
Victor curled his lip in anger, "Well why the hell not?!" His voice rose.  
"He had homework."  
"Who gives a rat's ass about homework?! The kid needs some muscle! He needs to get strong!"  
"He also has to pass his classes," Nora said calmly.  
"Why? So that he can go to high school and be bullied? So that he can stay a virgin 'till he's forty? Why the hell do you think it's so fucking important for him to pass his classes?"  
The woman stayed silent.  
"Hello, I asked you a question!" The man scowled and slapped her across the face, cracking her lip. "You gonna answer me this time?"  
Nora licked the blood from her lips, "I want him to do better,"  
Victor's face turned red with rage, "Better than what? Huh? Better than me?" His stinking, scruffy face was just centimeters from Nora's. "Well news flash, Nora. The way you're raising him, he's going to be a fucking nerd." The drunken man's spit sprinkled her face liberally.  
Eddie flinched.  
"You know what's unsuccessful in Gotham, Nora? Fucking nerds!" The man shouted, backhanding his wife with a force great enough to knock her off of the chair and onto the hard tile floor.  
Edward's heart leapt into his throat when he heard the sickening crack.  
He almost ran to her side, but stopped himself. He hid before Daddy could turn around and see that he saw what happened.  
"Nora!" The man roared, anger and drunkenness clouding his observational skills. "Nora get the fuck up and face me!" He kicked her hard in the side, moving her slightly, revealing the small puddle of blood forming on the floor.  
"Nora?"  
She didn't respond. The man's eyes grew round.  
"Shit! Shit! Nora, fuck you fucking bitch fuck get up!" Victor crouched down and turned her head to face him. Blank, lifeless eyes stared back at him accusingly. He quickly released his grip, panic stricken. "Shit! Eddie!" The man whipped back and forth violently, looking for his son.  
"Fuck! The little shit probably ran off! Damn it!" The man put a shaking hand over his mouth, ran his other hand through his hair, and let out a string of unintelligible curses.  
Victor froze, then shook his head, backed out of the room and grabbed his coat, walking out of the front door with a muttered, "I'll get the little turd in the morning,"  
Edward crawled out from behind the counter when he heard the front door lock, tears streaming down his face.  
"Mommy?" The boy crawled to his mother. "Mom, I know the answer." The child touched his mother's face, closing her eyes. "The answer to the riddle you asked me last night. I solved it," The boy swallowed heavily, choking back a sob. He tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and curled up next to her, clutching her tightly.  
" _'Are you asleep?'_ "

**Authors Notes:**

**Yep. That just happened. Okay so this was because I remembered an episode of ****_The Batman_**** where they low-key suggested that Eddie was abused as a kid and was without a mom, so I came up with a why. And if you hadn't figured it out, Eddie is the Riddler as a kid. **

**And the riddle was one that he ( he being the Riddler) had said to Batman in the first episode we meet the Riddler in ****_The Batman_**** TV universe.**

**And for Tale of the Nighthawk readers, I apologize. Profusely. Please, please, ****_please_**** don't hate me. I will continue! I promise! Honestly though, it's probably not gonna get back up and running until summer time. Maybe even later. Again, I'm SO sorry. Really. **

**Have a great day everyone! Please review! I love those! If you wanna chat, you can PM me. Or say what you want in the reviews. Either works!**


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